AN: Nezukara here! So I was sitting in school, bored out of my mind, and of course when I don't have any opportunity to write anything, an AU strikes and suddenly I have an entire story planned out.

Basically, there's three 'branches' of this multi-chapter fanfic: wMatsui, MaYuki, and SayaMilky. The pairings have their own stories that play out as the fanfic goes on, and if everything goes as planned, each branch will end all at once in one conclusion.

Five kingdoms reside in the country of Lumos: Akiba, Sakae, Namba, Hakata, and Nogizaka, living in peaceful harmony with one another, standing together against the neighboring country of Noire. Each kingdom with their own stories, different yet similar, intertwining and tangling with one another, like a spider’s web.

Sakae’s queen sits on her throne twiddling her thumbs and bouncing her leg, anxiously awaiting for the next attack from Lumos’ dark next-door resident. She was never destined to be queen. She was supposed to be a librarian. Just the other day, she had been walking hand and hand with her father to the bookstore when she met the daughter of miracles, and her life was flipped upside down.

In Akiba, the queen of the nation sits in a castle of high walls and guarded hallways, blissfully unaware of the many dangers in her own home. Little did she know that in her very own shadow lay a protective assassin, ready to dispose of any threat to her queen within a moment’s notice. The queen isn’t dumb; just ignorant, and her shadow guardian would prefer for it to stay this way.

The queen of Namba sits high above the rest of her country, juggling her time between caring for her people and entertaining the wishes of a certain little demon girl. When she’s not in meetings, she’s gamboling with a playful devil, before returning to her throne made of perfectly crafted lies.

My first meeting with Matsui Jurina had not been under the best of terms.

I had been little. Very little. Almost too young to remember, but the event was clear enough to stick with me through the years.

When I first met Matsui Jurina, her parents were being burned at the stake.

Back then, I hadn’t been the Queen of Sakae. I hadn’t even been royalty. During that time, I had been the daughter of the castle librarian who went with her father into the capital city to buy new additions to the castle’s extensive library. I remember being ever so happy that day. Father had said that he would buy me my very own book to keep. Not that I didn’t like the books in our library, but it was nice to be able to say with utmost confidence that I owned it myself, and no one could take that book away from me.

When we had arrived in town, to our surprise, the bustling streets were almost empty. Besides the bookstore, all the shops had closed down. Signs that said things like, “gone for the hour, be back soon!” and the like hung from every entrance. Needless to say, we were confused.

Thankfully, the bookstore owner, a longtime friend of my father’s, managed to clue us in.

“They’re having a witch trial today.” The elderly man had said in a hushed tone to my father, “But everyone knows that they’re not really trials. There’s just going to be a burning.”

“Burning?” I had asked Father innocently.

“It’s nothing, sweetie.” Father had replied, stealing a quick look out the window before leaning across the checkout counter towards the owner. He tried to talk as quietly as possible, but I still heard him.

“Who is it this time?” He had asked under his breath, and the old man sighed.

“The mother and father of the town Matsui Family.”

“Matsui Family?” I butted in, “We have the last name Matsui too, right Father? Are we going to have to go on trial as well?”

“No, honey.” Father had said, suddenly looking distressed as he turned back the bookstore owner, “That family… they’re the alchemists, right?”

“That’s the one.”

“Then this is preposterous!” Father got angry really fast, and I had jumped at his loud voice. I had never seen father so angry.“That family is not performing witchcraft! It’s science! They’ve committed no crime of the sort!”

“I know.” The old book man looked tired as well, “But the majority of the townspeople don’t see that, unfortunately. It’s hard to sway such focused thoughts.”

“The queen wouldn’t have any of this!” Father suddenly said, pushing himself off the counter, taking my hand, and preparing to leave, “If I can convince them to wait--”

“It’s useless, Ryosuke!” The old man finally raised his voice, and I flinched. Never had I heard the kind old man yell at anyone with such a tone in my life. “There’s no point! The laws of our kingdom state that our government cannot interfere with the will of the Church.”

“But--!” Father closed his mouth, grinding his teeth together. I slowly slipped my hand out of his and massaged it a little. Father had a strong grip. “Why would they do something like this…? The Church I grew up with never committed such acts of hypocrisy!”

“Father…” I had begged him anxiously, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing--”

“Ryosuke, keeping the child under ignorance will help nothing!” The book keeper had cut Father off, the rage in his voice having vanished without a trace. Now he simply sounded exhausted. “It’s best to tell her now. Hold old is she? Nine? Yes, it’s time for her to learn about reality.”

With a sigh, Father turned and crouched down right in front of me, pondering what to say to a curious nine year old like myself. I had furrowed my eyebrows. Father never crouched down to my eye level unless he was about to say something extremely important.

“Rena,” he finally began gently, “you know what a witch is, right?”

“Yes, Father.” I nodded obediently, and I saw that he was waiting for a definition, “A witch is a woman, or man, I suppose, who can use powerful magic spells to enchant people. Usually, they’re evil.”

“That’s right, Rena.” Then he had frowned, reviewing my explanation carefully, “You said that they were usually evil. Are all witches not evil?”

I had shaken my head, “I don’t think so, Father.”

“But in all the fairy tales I have read to you, the witches are evil.”

“Father,” I had replied patiently, “out of all the witches in the world, I’m sure that not all of them are evil. There’s bound to be a good witch out there somewhere.”

From behind the counter, the old book man laughed, “You’re daughter’s smart, Ryosuke!”

“I know.” Father smiled at me warmly, patting my head. I guess I had really pleased him that day, “You’re right. Not all witches are evil. In fact, some of these ‘witches’ might not even actually be witches!”

“That’s why witch trials are held, right, Father?” I asked, putting the pieces together myself, “People accuse you of being a witch, so you go on a witch trial to see if you really are a witch?”

“Yes, sweetie.” Father’s smile became worn out once more, “The Matsui Family was accused of being witches, and now they’re on a witch trial. They’re not really witches, though.”

“So they’ll be set free, right?”

Father got this heartbroken look in his eyes. One that I hadn’t seen since my mother passed away.

“No, honey. Unfortunately, even though witch trials are tests to see if you’re a witch or not, regardless of the results, the people on trial usually end up being killed anyways.”

“What?” My eyes had gone wide, and I clenched my fists in outrage, “Why?! How is that possible?! If there’s no proof that they’re witches, how come people will still kill them anyways?!”

“Because the world is unfair, kid,” The old book man spoke up, shaking his head pityingly, “Not everyone is as well educated as you, Rena. Not everyone has the same rationality and common sense as you. Some people aren’t as smart. Just up until ten years ago, over half of our country did not know how to read. In fact, even today, a good number of the people of Sakae still don’t know how to read or write or spell. In the end, just not everyone has the ability to choose between what is right, and what they want.”

“Why can’t they learn?” I had asked, utterly bewildered. “Why can’t they just learn how to read and write and spell? Why can’t they just be taught what’s right from wrong?”

“Because not everyone can afford it.” A third voice answered in a dull tone, and I whipped my head towards the entrance of the store.

Standing on the welcome mat, just in front of the door, was a small, dark, cloaked figure. I couldn’t see the person’s face or what lay beneath the cloak, but the bookstore man and Father did not seem to mind, so I had lowered my guard down as well.

“Jurina.” The bookstore owner greeted, and finally, the hood came off. Standing in the place of that cloaked figure was a girl no older than me. Her hair as black as night and and her mouth curved into that of a bitter smile. I noticed that her eyes were red, as though she had been crying.

“Hi, sir.” She had weakly replied before limping over to a nearby bookcase and leaning sloppily on the side of it. Suddenly, her legs buckled beneath her, and she slouched down to the ground, covering her eyes with her hands and burying her face in her knees. Father and the bookstore man only looked at her sympathetically, but I, who had still been young and sheltered, had still not caught onto the event that just finished.

“Is it over?” The bookseller asked gently, and the girl nodded slightly.

“Yeah. It just finished.”

There was complete silence.

That sight of the girl crying had been too much for my nine year old heart to handle, and cautiously, I walked over to the enigmatic child. I leaned against the bookcase before sliding down onto the floor right next to her, just like the had, albeit in a more cleanly manner. Around ten seconds after I joined her on the ground, she lifted her head ever so slightly, just for a little peep at me.

“I’m Matsui Rena.” I had said quietly and not too boldly, and I touched her shoulder softly, “What’s your name?”

“I’m Matsui Jurina.” she replied, her weary eyes still on my form.

At the sound of her name, I came to a sudden realization.

“You’re the--” I had covered my mouth in shock, and Jurina’s eyes softened. If I thought that Father and the old bookstore man’s eyes had looked tired before, Jurina might as well have been one of the deceased. Expect that she wasn’t, and that’s why she was weeping.

“I...I’m sorry.”

“My mother and father were just burned on the cross,” she had blurted out bluntly, not even caring to sugar coat or choose her words carefully. “The entire time, the crowds were chanting, saying that they were going to hell.”

“They’re not going to hell.” I had immediately replied, and getting the sudden urge to hug this stranger, I enveloped her in my arms, careful not to hug her too tight, lest she break. Father and the old bookman watched our exchange in silent interest. “They’re not going to hell, I promise.”

“How do you know?” Jurina whispered, her already quiet voice wavering with uncertainty.

“Because angels can’t go to hell.” I had said without any hesitation. “Don’t ask how I knew that they were angels. It’s because there’s a wet, crying one sitting next to me right now.”

And with those words, Jurina broke down, sobbing into my chest. I had held her steadfast, stroking her hair comfortingly and trying to be as sturdy as a nine year old could be.

And suddenly, I was angry. Angry at the people who accused Jurina’s family of being witches. (They weren’t. Jurina wasn’t.) Angry at the people who sided with them because there’s no way in hell that they actually believed that crap. Angry at the people who had set her parents aflame.

I had been snapped out of my thoughts by Jurina’s whimpering.

“I don’t want this to happen again.” Jurina was saying, repeating it like a mantra, “I don’t want this to happen again. Not to me, not anyone. Ever again.”

“I won’t let it happen,” I vowed without thinking. During then, I had no idea how I would manage to keep this promise. All I knew was that I agreed with Jurina. I didn’t ever want to see another person like Jurina, weeping and crying for what was robbed from them.

Less than thirty minutes later, Jurina had vanished out the door, never to be seen again. That was the last time I saw her. Every other time I went into Sakae’s capital (with and without Father, as I had lost him four years later), I would not see Jurina. The old bookman used to give me updates on how she had been doing, but a few months after my Father passed, my old friend the bookman passed away as well. His son ended up taking over the business, but he didn’t know of Jurina, so he was of no help.

Years passed on, and eventually I ended up forgetting about my little promise to Jurina until it resurfaced again when I became Queen. My father’s words started echoing through my subconscious one day, and the next thing I knew, I was already making negotiations with the former queen, Queen Mieko (who gave up her throne early for me) to make the prices for schooling less and decrease the tax on books. After all, knowledge was power, and I aimed to create an age where everyone could distinguish between right and wrong using their own morals and not out of selfishness.

I wondered if Jurina was proud of me then. I sure hoped so.

If there was one true reality of this unfair world we lived in, it was that I wanted to see her again.

This seems really interesting so far.Are you not going to talk about the Nogizaka and Hakata kingdoms?Also, I'm wondering why did the queen step down.Keep up the good work. I'll be waiting for an update.

AN: Hey guys! Chapter 1 has been posted! This chapter focuses a bit more on SayaMilky and MaYuki than wMatsui, since the wMatsui pairing took up the entirety of the prologue and I need to introduce the other two main couples as well. However, there is a section in Rena's PoV, as we do need to move wMatsui along too! The goal is by the end of this, every couple has about an equal amount of content.

In response to dragon522, the Nogizaka and Hakata kingdoms will definitely come into play later in this fanfic, but they're not going to be in the spotlight as much. I will probably dedicate some chapters or side chapters to the backstories of the main Nogi and HKT characters (as I have thought a lot about this topic), so they will have their own share of appearances! And the reason behind the previous queen of Sakae's stepping down will be revealed in this chapter and then explored a bit later on.

Thanks for reading, everyone! And enjoy! Also keep the comments coming! I love comments!

~nezu

Chapter 1:

(Sayaka’s PoV - Kingdom of Namba)

As soon as I first saw her sitting up in the apple tree this morning, smirking that unchanging, irritating smile at me, looking at me through narrowed eyes like the hateful creature she was, I knew that today, I despised her with my entire being.

“Miyuki!” I shouted, dismissing my image as a royal momentarily, “You better get out of my tree and stop eating my apples!”

Miyuki simply rolled her eyes at my impetuousness, helping herself to another one of my prized apples with a crisp crunch, “You can’t tell me what to do.”

“I’m the ruler of Namba!”

“Well, you’re not my ruler.” Miyuki shot back, that same distasteful look that I loathed so much dancing across her features.

And she was right. I wasn’t her ruler. Miyuki had no ruler, nor personal morals. As far as I could tell, she lived off the free and easy. Once she latched to me when we were younger, she never left. No matter what I did, regardless of how much we argued, she never left. And if I knew better, which frankly, I did, I could say that she was rather enjoying herself.

Miyuki was an immortal. She couldn’t die, or truly age, for that matter. I don’t know where she came from, just that she wasn’t from Namba. If she had ever been a mortal, I couldn’t say. If her real name wasn’t actually Miyuki, I had no way of telling. I didn’t know her backstory, nor did I have the urge to learn it. To put it bluntly, I didn’t care.

To me, Miyuki was a witch, and that’s all there was to it. She was a witch who came from whatever depths of hell regurgitated her out, rising to this world in order to make my life just that much more difficult. Because apparently, having to run an entire kingdom from a young age wasn’t hard enough.

At this point, you’d think I’d be used to her and the exasperation she brings to my daily life. To a certain extent, that was correct. I didn’t always hate Miyuki. Not all the time, at least.

To those who knew of her presence, Miyuki was no immortal, but a trained exorcist. They thought she was spiritually tuned, despite her aloof attitude to the rest of humanity. When I was twelve, about six years ago, I had watched Miyuki extract a demon from the body of a young boy in the middle of July. Not only was the demon expelled and murdered on the spot, but Miyuki had killed the young boy as well. And although it was clear that the death of the young boy had been unintentional, apparently I had been the only one who thought that way.

The parents had been so angry. They pelted Miyuki with stones and threw attack after attack, and she didn’t even try to move. Miyuki stood there, her appearance that of a young sixteen-year-old girl at the time. By the time I intervened to tell the family of the deceased boy that I would have to report them if the torture continued, it was too late, and Miyuki was bruised and bloody. I remember that my heart hurt a lot that day, and I wondered why I hadn’t cut in earlier, but that was before I remembered that I hated Miyuki.

I had picked up Miyuki’s battered and wounded body into my own arms, cradling her against my pre-adolescent chest. I had brought her back up to my personal castle garden (the same one we were arguing in this very minute,) and I had watched Miyuki die with unblinking eyes. It wasn’t the first time I had seen Miyuki die. There had been a time she shielded me from an assassin, another time when she cushioned my fall from a high tumble from a castle balcony, and many more times that I could barely recall. Perhaps I had just become numb to her deaths, but I never forgot the blood that stained my white shirt that day.

Despite how many good deeds she performed, Miyuki always seemed to tip the scale towards my immense dislike of her. Yes, she was some type of protector of me (had she been anyone else other than Miyuki, she would’ve been my guardian angel), but she also was a scammer, a thief, and a murderer, both unintentionally and intentionally. It was because of these deaths that Miyuki had obtained the nickname of “Angelmaker”. And no matter how much I chastised her, my warnings would constantly fall on deaf ears. “Sure” Miyuki would say, shrugging me off uncaringly. What did she care if she died? Miyuki would just come back later. She couldn’t die after all. She made a point to remind me often.

But that one particular day in July, I saw a side of Miyuki that I had never witnessed before. I eventually decided that I didn’t hate Miyuki that day. Not that much, anyway.

She had just been reborn, changing her appearance to match mine-- a twelve-year-old. We had sat next to each other on the sunkissed marble bench, right underneath the shade of my apple tree, not really saying a word. I didn’t look at her, and she didn’t look at me. We just stared straight ahead. There was no hateful expression on Miyuki’s face, and right then, she wasn’t a witch to me.

“No, you idiot.” Miyuki had whispered, a bitter smile finding itself on her face, “You hate me too. Because I can’t die. Because I can’t and won’t leave you alone. I’m not stupid, Sayaka. I make your life a living hell.”

“I don’t hate you,” I found myself lying. And it was true. At that moment, I did not hate Miyuki. I couldn’t hate Miyuki. “I don’t hate you.”

“If you say so,” Miyuki had trailed off, looking like the most depressed twelve-year-old I had ever laid eyes on.

If there was one thing I hated more than Miyuki herself, it was Miyuki when she made me feel something other than hate for her. A demon didn’t deserve my sympathy, let alone anything at all.

“Let’s go up into the attic and play something.” I had insisted, gripping Miyuki by the wrist and tugging her into the castle, unable to bear staying in my garden any longer, under my ill-fated apple tree. “I wanna go explore. Let’s go.”

So Miyuki had followed me willingly into the castle up to the attic, flicking my arm like a pest the entire time.

And now, here we were, under my precious apple tree once again, having one of our usual bickers.

“You should at least respect my property,” I spat, striding over to Miyuki, grabbing one of her dangling legs, and yanking her out of the tree. The witch fell to the ground in a loud clatter of leaves and branches.

“You didn’t have to pull me!” Miyuki grumbled under her breath, now sprawled on the ground like a broken doll, “I could’ve gotten hurt.”

“Yeah right!” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “Your wounds would just regenerate within the day.”

“You know me so well!” The immortal girl cooed, getting up and leaning close to me in an attempt to make me feel uncomfortable. It was working. “Must be because we’ve been together for so long!”

I roughly shoved her away with an annoyed grunt, “We are not ‘together’, whatever that means. And you were the one who butted into my life against my will.”

“I made your life far more interesting.” Miyuki replied, staring at her fingernails and twirling her hair with her other hand. “Anyway, you have no idea how difficult and exhausting it is to deal with you all day.”

“If by ‘interesting’, you mean hectic and troublesome, then yes.” I retorted, glaring at the girl with the intensity of a couple hundred burning suns, “I hate you. If you find clinging on to me so tiring, then you can just leave. I’m sure you can walk out the palace doors and go somewhere else at any given time.”

At this, Miyuki’s gaze lifted from her nails and her hair-twirling ceased. Her eyes narrowed, and she moved closer to me such that she was right in front of my face, looking into my eyes with her own sharp, dark ones.

“Be careful what you say, Sayaka.” She murmured, her voice soft and velvety with a feather-light quality, “You’re right. I can leave at any given time. In fact, maybe I’ll leave you right now. I don’t even have to walk out the palace doors.”

And with that, she snapped her fingers and disappeared into thin air.

Not even a second later, I finally registered the empty space in front of me, and my eyes widened. My heart rate sped up considerably. Had she really left for good? Sure, I had seen Miyuki use her ability to teleport on multiple occasions, but never like this.

I was panicking inside, pondering what my next course of action would be, when a familiar weight dropped onto my back and a pair of accustomed arms latched around my neck. Instinctively, my own arms flew backwards, hitching themselves under Miyuki’s thighs to support her.

The moment I realized that I had been tricked, and tricked rather badly, I was already plotting Miyuki’s next death, and I was reminded yet again of one of the many reasons to detest Miyuki. I couldn’t see her face, but I could tell she was giving me the usual degrading look.

“You should’ve seen your expression!” Miyuki exclaimed gleefully, her mouth near my right ear. “Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not ready to leave just yet. Too much to do, so little time.”

I had decided a long time ago that it was fruitless to even try to decipher Miyuki’s riddles. I attempted nothing but giving up.

“I’ll make you want to leave.” I hissed, dumping her off my back roughly and sending her to the ground for the second time that day, “Just you wait!”

Miyuki merely laughed at my insistence, picking herself up and pretending to dust the hem of her black one-piece dress.

She smirked as she straightened herself with a certain flair I could never pick up on, “Sounds interesting. I’ll be waiting for that.”

“I’ll make you want to leave,” I repeated stubbornly, this time turning around to head back inside my castle, “I’ll make you want to stay away from me.”

“I can’t wait.” Was all she said, that devilish smile never leaving her face. Then she reached into her dress pocket and pulled out an apple, taking a bite with a satisfied expression. Looking up, I realized that out of my original number of fifteen apples, there were only thirteen left in the tree. One of which Miyuki had already helped herself to earlier.

Out of all the demons I’d seen in this world, never had I seen a more despicable one than Miyuki.

With those final words, I left Miyuki alone in my garden with some flair of my own as I threw my leopard print cape over my shoulder, returning to my duties, and retrieving my position as ruler of Namba, not looking back once.

--

(Mayu’s PoV - Kingdom of Akiba):

I didn’t like it when Yuki strayed away from me. I felt uneasy whenever the young woman went out of sight. Before, it used to simply be because it was my job to protect her. Nowadays, I was beginning to wonder if it was for another reason, and whether or not this sense of constant anxiety was worth my pay.

Then I remembered that without this job, I would be on the street, stealing for a living. Usually, that would shut up whatever complaints I had.

It was all because of that cunning councilwoman that I had this occupation. She picked me out of the slums and shoved me into a new lifestyle. One where I didn’t have to rely on stealing and running to survive. A life where the Queen Yuki became my reason for living, and any foes of the Akiba were my personal enemies.

That sly woman. Shimazaki Haruka.

You think you know someone, but it turns out that they’re someone completely different. Such was my relationship with Shimazaki Haruka.

“What’s your name?” She had asked me kindly, kneeling down in the middle of the busy street.

I had been frozen with shock, not knowing how to handle such a situation. Sure, I had successfully stolen my next meal from the oblivious baker, but at the same time, I had been caught by one of the most powerful women in the Kingdom of Akiba. What I hadn’t known was that Haruka was one of the most deadly doctors in the Realm of Lumos.

“Mayu…” I had trailed off, my voice hoarse from remaining unused and shaking with nervousness.

Haruka had used to be an assassin. One who had been able to distribute the most vicious poisons the world had ever known, yet managed to stay off wanted lists by taking out only the high ranking members in the enemy Realm of Noire. Somehow, she managed to give herself a new beginning by wriggling her way into the Royal Castle as the head doctor.

I had only given her my name when Haruka had suddenly broke out into a full on beam, grabbed my skinny wrist, and dragged me to the headquarters of her underground guild of assassins. She had trained me personally, and it didn’t take long before I was assassinating corrupt nobility who threatened Akiba and escaping completely unscathed. Haruka took matters into her own hands, covering up my tracks with the utmost delicacy.

Then she called me into her office one night. I had no idea what to expect.

“You’ve grown a lot, Mayu,” she had commented when I stepped into the warmth of the guild on a cold winter’s night. “To think I’m saying this when you’re only three years younger than me.”

“It’s a bit strange, isn’t it?” I had remarked, which was true. I had seen Haruka as a senior this whole time, when in reality she wasn’t much older than me.

“I’m the same age as our new queen, you know.” Haruka had replied, and I frowned at this fact, wondering where this conversation could possibly be going.

Yuki had just been crowned as queen after the previous queen, Queen Megumi, retired and chose Yuki as her successor. Haruka had been instated as head doctor three years earlier, when she was my age. Now that I thought about it, this topic of age seemed a lot weirder than it had initially been.

“I called you here to make an offer with you, Mayu.” Haruka had finally cut to the chase, taking a seat at her desk and motioning for me to sit as well. As I made myself comfortable, she continued her explanation, “Recently, there have been more and more occurrences regarding attacks from Noire on the various rulers. A new ruler of Namba, Queen Sayaka, has come to power after Queen Nana suffered some mental damage from a previous attack. Queen Mieko has been frazzled but has remained steady in Sakae. However, there has been talk of her retiring early due to her sudden interest in one of her staff members. Rumor has it that she wants her librarian to replace her as queen.”I had remembered hearing about this buzzing around town the other day, and out of all the gossip this issue in Sakae had caught my attention.

“Would this really be wise?” I had asked Haruka, and the other girl shrugged.

“In this case, it just might be. Her librarian is said to have the ability to memorize anything and everything, and has been acting more of an advisor than a book keeper for her queen. Ever since Queen Mieko began taking her advice, the kingdom of Sakae’s economy has risen higher than it ever has in the past fifty years.”

“That’s amazing.” I had murmured in awe, and I started thinking about what it would be like to have the skill of complete memorization.

“The only problem is that this girl now has a large target right on her forehead.” Haruka sighed, “It’s really unfortunate that some of the most gifted people must be sought after this way. Still, if she ever does get a vouch to become queen, I am sure she would get the majority vote.”

“How is Hakata faring?”

“Queen Sashihara is quite the strong one.” Haruka had rolled her eyes in exasperation, “though it’s more like a stubbornness that just won’t die. Somehow, that woman just won’t let herself get put down. Quite the persistent one, really.”

“Why did you feel the need to tell me about this?” At this point, I had really desired to find out my reason for being summoned.

“I want you to be the silent shadow guardian of the new queen, Queen Yuki.”

For a good minute, I struggled to digest the words that had just exited Haruka’s mouth. Never had I expected such an offer to show itself.

And the next thing I knew, I was hiding myself in the rafters of the castle throne room, silently watching over Queen Yuki and following her throughout the castle as she went about her business.

That had been a year ago. Since then, I would rise every morning at the rooster’s crow, exactly an hour before the Queen awoke from her sleep. Every day I shadowed her, never making my presence known but keeping a keen eye on her. Each day was the same routine, and eventually, I memorized her schedules and knew her body language. I could tell when she got frustrated, when she was distressed, and even when she became filled with happiness and accomplishment. In my defense, it was hard to do anything else besides observe.

In an odd, twisted way, I knew Yuki better than anyone else in the entire castle. The only problem was that she didn’t know of my existence. But that was okay. As long as I kept her safe, it was okay.

What was not okay was Miyazawa Sae. That playboy of a girl who toyed with hearts left and right and went out to drink and party during the evenings. She was the ambassador from Sakae, and I used to personally question the sanity of whoever appointed her into such a high position. Used to.

When Sae first appeared three months ago, Yuki was enamored. She had fallen completely head-over-heels, and honestly, it was disturbing to watch.

I hated seeing Yuki cling to Sae’s arm every night when they went for strolls around the castle garden under the stars. It was the worst part of the job. And somehow, they would slip away from me and I would have to scour the area looking for them in earnest, just in case something bad happened. Sae made this occupation that much more difficult.

And truthfully, I wished I could hold more of a grudge against Sae, but I couldn’t. As much as I hated to say it, Sae was smart. Really smart. It was because of Sae that the Akiba’s trading problems practically disappeared. It was because of Sae that thievery in Akiba’s capital city was just about nonexistent. And it was because of Sae that Yuki was so happy all the time.

“Just go home already,” I muttered to myself that night. I pulled out my pocket watch to check the time, counting down the minutes until ten o’clock, which was the curfew time when every visitor of the castle had to leave. Besides the Royal Council as well as maids and other staff, I was the only exception to this rule, and I planned to uphold it.

“Why won’t you leave?” I grumbled under my breath at nine fifty-eight PM. This was getting ridiculous. Watching Yuki laugh brought some type of bubbly feeling, but watching her giggle at Sae’s constant flirting gave me nothing but raw irritation. I had no idea what other girls saw in her.

--

(Rena’s PoV - Kingdom of Sakae)

“Rena-sama!” Airi cried, pushing me away from the center of the town square. Around us, citizens screamed and scrambled everywhere as soldiers of the dark empire of Noire raided my city. “Rena, get to safety now!”

I could only nod meekly before scampering off in some direction. Which one? I had no idea. I just knew that as much as I wanted to stay and help, I needed to stay alive first. For the sake of myself and my people.

A pang of distress resounded within my body as I witnessed two boys far too young to be wielding weapons, let alone swords, sprint by me, heading towards the heart of the fighting. In the back of my head, the figure of a cloaked girl made itself prominent, but I pushed the thought away.

I cursed my pitiful athleticism as I continued to flee. To be fair, it wasn’t entirely my fault. I was the daughter of a deceased librarian. There had never been any need to run. However it was at times like this that I began to wish that I was Yamamoto Sayaka, the ruler of the neighboring Namba. That girl could’ve pummelled anyone and everyone who got in her way, Noire soldiers included.

Screeching, I ducked as an arrow went whizzing over my head and I toppled to the cold, hard, and unforgiving ground. Turning around, my eyes went wide with fear as a giant Noirian man smirked at my weakness.

“The queen doesn’t look like royalty now,” he sneered, and my blood ran cold at the sound. This was it. I was done for.

The next thing I knew, I was being pulled backwards by an unknown force, and before my eyes a steel cage materialized itself from the ground right beneath the soldier, enveloping and swallowing him whole. It then proceeded to retract itself into the earth, leaving only the crippled, broken body of a former man in its place.

I gasped at the gory scene. What had just happened? How did that man...how...?

I could feel my blood rush down, out of my head and towards my feet. A wave of lightheadedness overcame me.

Wait... Wait... So, the kingdom of Sakae got attacked and then Rena got attacked and fainted? What's Airin got to do with this? Is she one of Rena's knights/advisors...? I'm confused with the ending

Milky as an immortal....

I totally understand your confusion! Rena's part of this chapter was meant to be a pretty big cliffhanger I meant to leave it pretty open so that there's questions to be answered in the next chapter.

Rena's royal council hasn't been introduced yet (which Airi is a part of, along with some other familiar SKE members), but they'll all appear soon. The ending of this chapter will be explained in the beginning of the next one!

Wait... Wait... So, the kingdom of Sakae got attacked and then Rena got attacked and fainted? What's Airin got to do with this? Is she one of Rena's knights/advisors...? I'm confused with the ending

Milky as an immortal....

I totally understand your confusion! Rena's part of this chapter was meant to be a pretty big cliffhanger I meant to leave it pretty open so that there's questions to be answered in the next chapter.

Rena's royal council hasn't been introduced yet (which Airi is a part of, along with some other familiar SKE members), but they'll all appear soon. The ending of this chapter will be explained in the beginning of the next one!

I have a feeling that Churi will be there too, since you said some other familiar SKE members and Airin was also there so I thought Churi

(Is there Furuyanagi?? Author-san pls tell me >_< If they die, they have to die together )

Umm... If Airin was mentioned in this chapter, than she must have a big role to play, maybe....

So were these members anything to do with the old kingdom, aka Mieko's kingdom?

Wait... Wait... So, the kingdom of Sakae got attacked and then Rena got attacked and fainted? What's Airin got to do with this? Is she one of Rena's knights/advisors...? I'm confused with the ending

Milky as an immortal....

I totally understand your confusion! Rena's part of this chapter was meant to be a pretty big cliffhanger I meant to leave it pretty open so that there's questions to be answered in the next chapter.

Rena's royal council hasn't been introduced yet (which Airi is a part of, along with some other familiar SKE members), but they'll all appear soon. The ending of this chapter will be explained in the beginning of the next one!

I have a feeling that Churi will be there too, since you said some other familiar SKE members and Airin was also there so I thought Churi

(Is there Furuyanagi?? Author-san pls tell me >_< If they die, they have to die together )

Umm... If Airin was mentioned in this chapter, than she must have a big role to play, maybe....

So were these members anything to do with the old kingdom, aka Mieko's kingdom?

Well of course there will be some Furuyanagi! I'm quite a big shipper of them myself! Although they may not be as prominent as, say wMatsui, Furuyanagi will definitely be present in this fanfic! Lol I have no plans to kill them off anytime soon, but no promises!

Be on the lookout for a ton of side couples, because I have WAY too many ships!

In the kingdom of Sakae, it's important to know that there are two different time periods: Before Rena's rule as queen (AKA Mieko's kingdom), and the Rena's current kingdom. The differences between these two time periods will be explained in a future chapter! (I gotta leave some things for readers to wonder about!) In regards to Mieko's kingdom, I will say that Mieko hasn't died or anything like that. She's still around and will make some appearances here and there along with other SKE members who will carry out their own special roles!